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Hillsdale is a town in eastern Columbia County,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, near the New York - Massachusetts border and
Great Barrington, Massachusetts Great Barrington is a New England town, town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,172 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Bot ...
. New York state routes 22 and 23 intersect near the town center, which is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. The town has several restaurants and a general store, among other businesses. Hillsdale is known for its hilly landscape and is near Bash Bish Falls,
Taconic State Park Taconic State Park is located in Columbia and Dutchess County, New York abutting Massachusetts and Connecticut within the Taconic Mountains. The state park is located off New York State Route 344 south of Interstate 90 and north of New York Ci ...
, and the Catamount Ski Area. The Harlem Valley Rail Trail, a 26-mile bike path in two sections, is located not far from the intersection of routes 22 and 23.


History

Much of what would become the town of Hillsdale was part of the
Manor of Rensselaerswyck Rensselaerswyck was a Dutch colonial patroonship and later an England, English Proprietary colony, manor owned by the Van Rensselaer (family), van Rensselaer family located in the present-day Capital District, New York, Capital District of New Yor ...
. Due to overlapping boundary lines, portions of the eastern part were claimed by the Province of Massachusetts. Kakeout was established by settlers from New England who raised sheep.Parmet, Herbert S., "Hillsdale, A History"
/ref> Around 1745, Martin Krum is reported to have purchased 800 acres in the western portion of the town from the
Van Rensselaer family The Van Rensselaer family () is a family of Dutch descent that was prominent during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries in the area now known as the state of New York. Members of this family played a critical role in the formation of the Unit ...
. Robert Noble and his associates procured the Indian title to land about five miles square in the eastern part and called it Nobletown. The Van Resselaers and the Livingstons leased land on their vast estates to tenant farmers, but those who had emigrated from Massachusetts did not recognized the landlords' titles. The dispute was not settled until 1773. In 1776
Henry Knox Henry Knox (July 25, 1750 – October 25, 1806) was an American military officer, politician, bookseller, and a Founding Father of the United States. Knox, born in Boston, became a senior general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionar ...
passed through part of what is now North Hillsdale (formerly Nobletown) while transporting cannons from
Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
, to aid the Continentals in the
siege of Boston The siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. In the siege, Patriot (American Revolution), American patriot militia led by newly-installed Continental Army commander George Wash ...
. Markers erected in Hillsdale along the
Henry Knox Trail The Henry Knox Trail, also known as the Knox Cannon Trail, is a network of roads and paths which traces the route of Colonel Henry Knox's "noble train of artillery" from Fort Crown Point, Crown Point to the Continental Army camp outside Boston, M ...
in the 1920s were moved in 1975 based on new research that determined Knox entered through a different route from that marked. There is now a marker in "Old Nobletown." This territory was taken from the town of Claverack in 1782. The Columbia Turnpike was chartered by the state legislature in 1799. The road ran from the Massachusetts state line to the Hudson River port of Hudson as a way to bring farm produce, especially wool, rye, and wheat from the farm communities downriver to New York City. Revenues from tolls covered construction and maintenance. The East Gate tollhouse was located in Hillsdale. In 2016, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Dr. Joseph P. Dorr House and Pine View Farm are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.34%, is water. The eastern town line is the New York–
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
border, along the Taghkanic Mountain range.


Demographics

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 1,744 people, 721 households, and 485 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,133 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.88%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.63%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.46% Asian, 0.52% from other races, and 0.52% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 1.61% of the population. There were 721 households, out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.90. Age groups in the town were spread out, with 23.9% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 30.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $40,156, and the median income for a family was $46,250. Males had a median income of $30,893 versus $25,694 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the town was $27,186. About 4.7% of families and 8.3% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 8.5% of those under age 18 and 5.1% of those age 65 or over.


Communities and locations

*Harlemville – The
hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
of Harlemville is located in the northwestern corner of the town on County Route 21. It is the home of Hawthorne Valley Farm Store and its Waldorf school. The Emmanuel Lutheran Church of Harlemville and Cemetery were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. *Hillsdale Hamlet – The hamlet of Hillsdale is located on the southern border of the town, next to the Copake town line. It is at the junction of state routes 22 and 23. The Hillsdale Hamlet Historic District was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 2010 due to its abundance of pre-1900 buildings, including the recently restored Hillsdale General Store and three historic inns: Hillsdale House, Mount Washington House, and a 1790 brick structure that formerly housed the Aubergine restaurant. The Hillsdale Hamlet Park offers playground equipment for children and a basketball court. A town flea market is held in the park over Memorial Day weekend. An extension of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail terminates in the hamlet. The 1.5-mile extension was paved in spring 2017. *North Hillsdale – A hamlet near the center of Hillsdale on Route 22, originally the location of Nobletown. The North Hillsdale Methodist Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. *Roeliff Jansen Park, a state park run by the town of Hillsdale, has miles of hiking and snowshoeing trails, a year-round dog run, many family events, and a summer program for children, as well as a weekly Copake Hillsdale Farmers Market in the summer and fall. The park is located on Route 22 in the town of Copake, approximately one mile south of the intersection of Routes 22 and 23. *Across from the park is the Roeliff Jansen Community Library, which also serves the towns of Copake and Ancram.


Festivals and celebrations

The Oldtone Music Festival is held at Cool Whisper Farm on Route 21 in early September. Grass Fed Arts/Oldtone preserves roots music and traditional folkways through artist and audience participation; connecting neighbors, bridging cultures, and sharing insight and wisdom across generations.


Notable residents, past and present

* Brian Denis Cox, Scottish actor, HBO series ''Succession'', Broadway plays ''Great Society'', ''Pretenders'', ''Strange but True'' *
James Agee James Rufus Agee ( ; November 27, 1909 – May 16, 1955) was an American novelist, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, writing for ''Time'', he was one of the most influential film critics in the United States. His autob ...
, writer * Samuel Birdsall, U.S. congressman, studied law with
Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...
* Squire S. Case, New York legislator * Peter Kane Dufault, poet *
Anna Roosevelt Halsted Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Halsted (May 3, 1906 – December 1, 1975) was an American writer who worked as a newspaper editor and in public relations. Halsted also wrote two children's books published in the 1930s. She was the eldest child and only d ...
, writer * John Krum, attorney, jurist, and mayor of St. Louis, Missouri and Alton, Illinois * Henry Augustus Loop, painter * John F. Collin, U.S. Congressman (1845-1846), Farmer, Historian *
John Cowper Powys John Cowper Powys ( ; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English novelist, philosopher, lecturer, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...
, writer * Michael Lally, Irish American poet, actor *
Walton Goggins Walton Sanders Goggins Jr. (born November 10, 1971) is an American actor. He has starred in various television series, including ''The Shield'' (2002–2008), ''Justified (TV series), Justified'' (2010–2015), ''Vice Principals'' (2016–2017), ...
, Actor, HBO series ''The White Lotus, Season 3'', ''Fallout''


References


External links


Town of Hillsdale official website
{{authority control Towns in Columbia County, New York Towns in New York (state) 1788 establishments in New York (state)